$12M In OT For Department Of Corrections Approved By Council

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — With the Corrections Department worker vacancy rate at 51 percent and a reduction in staff due to the current budget cutting 54 positions, the Executive Council approved $12 million to cover overtime pay at the Department of Corrections.

And that is not all that will be needed this year, they were told.

Corrections Commissioner William R. Hart Jr. told the council Wednesday that while the overtime has remained the same for the past seven years, the cost of that has increased by about 35 percent.

Federal forecasts are that demand for those jobs will be going down, but the state is hoping to incentivize people to take the jobs and has a handful of individuals who are trained and ready to begin work.

The legislature cut the corrections budget hard last year and that saved $6.7 million in employment costs, Hart wrote.

The legislative Fiscal Committee approved the request for the $12 million on April 17.

Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon, asked Hart how much more will the department need this year.

He said approximately $8 million or $9 million more.

Eight recently graduated from the academy who will be coming to corrections. He said the amount allocated for overtime by the legislature was $2,100.

Hart said there are minimum staffing requirements needed to keep employees and inmates safe and overtime is in many cases compulsory.

The contract with the union now includes double time for most overtime hours, Hart said. He noted there are back of budget cuts which amounted to $10 million.

"I think it is shocking," Liot Hill said. They knew at the time that $2,100 was unacceptable and she called it "the height of irresponsibility."

Gov. Kelly Ayotte, a Republican, said her budget was quite up front addressing the situation and it was the legislature that pushed the budget cuts for corrections which were part of the overall package.

Hart said it was clearly anticipated that the $2,100 would be inadequate in that there was a footnote that the department could come to the council and the joint legislative fiscal committee for more money.

Separately, the council rejected a contract for an architect for a new men's prison at its last meeting noting that they only received one bid and the cost was very high. That is going back out to bid.

Are working conditions an issue, Executive Councilor Joe Kenney, R-Wakefield asked.

Hart said the women's prison has the lowest vacancy rate in the system, and because it is a relatively new facility, it is considered more attractive. He noted that it was not just the building condition for the men's prison, which is an issue for the vacancy rate there.

Competition rates for other corrections facilities in the state (county) are $33 an hour and the state is in the $28 an hour range.

CONFIRMATIONS/NOMINATIONS

Shawn Hamilton of Warner has been nominated as director of the Division of Parks at a salary of $124,187. The position has been vacant for some time after Brian Wilson left the position.

Gov. Ayotte said Hamilton would be returning to state employment. Online, it appears, Hamilton was a program specialist for NH State Parks.

The Executive Council confirmed Patrick Griffin of Moultonborough and James Burnett III of Concord to the University System of NH Board of Trustees.

Councilor Kenney said the university system is at a turning point with enrollment down. These nominations are important but he made it clear to them that we need to adapt to the new economy, the new workforce and the new future.

"I am hoping they will be a part of the change," Kenney said.

Councilor Liot Hill said she also talked with them about the transition period the system is going through and the smaller institutions in Keene and Plymouth and note that they are economic anchor institutions.

Ayotte said she agreed with the councilors and those are conversations she has had with the trustees.

"The status quo is not working," she said, noting many of her son's classmates are going there.
"We want to make sure they meet the needs of the future," she said.

Ayotte also nominated Joshua Elliott of Goffstown as deputy commissioner to the state Department of Energy, replacing Christopher Ellms Jr. who has moved on to be commissioner of the Public Utilities Commission.

It also confirmed Susan Klassen of Concord as the assistant commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

Also nominated were Michelle Edmark of Hooksett as assistant commissioner of the Department of Corrections at a salary of $150,849, succeeding Jessica Kuron of Concord.

Two individuals were also nominated by the governor to the NH Commission on Human Rights: Amy Elizabeth Heuer of Somersworth and Amber Allen of Gilmanton. If confirmed this will fully fill the positions on the commission.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AUTHORITY BLOCK GRANTS AWARDED IN TAMWORTH, NEWPORT, BERLIN

In support of more and improved housing and an elevator for a nursing home, the council approved three contracts using federal Housing and Urban Development monies, Wednesday.

It includes $500,000 on behalf of Elm Grove Companies to build 55 units of affordable multifamily, 1-3 bedroom units at 21 Cross Street, Newport; a rehabilitation of a 1980s era Remick Acres Affordable Housing for 24 low- to moderate-income units in Tamworth and a grant of $371,600 to support a nursing home elevator improvement at the nursing home at 364 Cates Hill Road in Tamworth.

The Newport project is a partnership with the town and the developer and is near the downtown. All 55 units are income restricted.

Liot Hill said this is the kind of partnership that needs to be undertaken to help solve what she said is the most important issue of the public, to build more affordable housing.

TAX AMNESTY COLLECTS $103.8M

Calling it a "once in a lifetime" tax amnesty program, Lindsey Stepp, commissioner of the Department of Revenue Administration, said a tax amnesty program was a great success. The largest category of revenue were from those who were being audited, she said. This brought them to the table. Outstanding collections also were another bucket and then there were routine tax notices.

The state had forecast collecting $5 million so Stepp said it was way beyond expectations. The amnesty program has ended. Revenues overall have picked up and she said the state is ahead by 4 percent of projection to date.

BROADBAND EXPANSION CONTINUES

The council authorized $17.6 million from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program to three recipients for 14 projects to bring broadband access to underserved locations using 100 percent federal funds. New Hampshire is on track to be the first state in the nation to bring broadband access to every home in the state.

Lucy Lange, commissioner of the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs, explained in an email to the governor and council that Comcast, Fidium and New Hampshire Electric Cooperative are the three entities that will work to provide broadband at 4,012 locations at an average cost of $4,404 per location. The remaining locations, which are the most remote, will come with another request later, Lange said. The locations for the hook ups in the contract are in Great North Woods, the White Mountains, the Dartmouth-Lake Sunapee region, the Monadnock and even some in the Seacoast area. She said it brings us to roughly 99 percent.

NEW RFP FOR I-95 REST AREAS WENT OUT TO BID THIS WEEK

Executive Councilor Janet Stevens, R-Rye, said she received notification at 4 p.m. Tuesday that a new request for proposals for bidders to operate the rest areas in Hampton off I-95 had gone out to bid.

She called it "unacceptable" that the council did not get a chance to review the RFPs.

Stevens said there are town concerns for water lines, commitment to a public hearing and issues of caping of revenue. She asked the attorney general if the issues have been retained and he said they were.

There were two bidders, both in-state operators, who were competing for the bid to run the north and south rest areas but a technical problem with the bidding was identified, rendering the need to put the project out again for bid.

Former Gov. Chris Sununu had sought to sell the two sites. but Ayotte decided instead that she preferred a lease model similar to the Hooksett rest areas to allow for more control and a local flavor for visitors.

NO TOURISM PROMOTION IN CANADA

The governor's conference on tourism was held this past Monday and Liot Hill said a lot of good news came out but one area is the potential decrease in visitors from Canada.

Liot Hill asked Lange what the department was doing to help small businesses.

"That is a real concern," she said "and we don't foresee it improving immediately."

The governor led a mission last September in Canada and tried to assure people that the door here is wide open to Canadian visitors. But due to tariffs and disparaging comments from Republican President Donald Trump about the neighbors to the north, Canadian tourism was down last year about 30 percent and it is expected to continue.

Are we doing advertising there, Liot Hill asked.

No, Lange said not immediately. She said there were BEA staff who attended promotional events recently.

AG'S REPORT ON DNCR

Last Friday the Attorney General issued a report on what happened at the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources related to a release of 91-A information requested by the American Civil Liberties Union - NH into federal interest in a potential ICE detention facility in Merrimack which has now been scrapped.

Ayotte had stated that the Trump Administration had not spoken to her but learned that they had asked the DNCR about the land. The governor asked for the resignation of the commissioner although she was already leaving in June and said she did not know of the 91-A request until she heard from the governor's office related to a ACLU press release.

The AG's report found former Commissioner Sarah Stewart did not know about the 91-A request, though her staff did and did not tell her.

Liot Hill asked Adam Crepeau, interim commissioner of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, what is being done, noting that a lack of communication was identified and it is something he is trying to address in the agency.

He said he will have an eye on all 91-A requests prior to its release so he can review them and see if it has a level of sensitivity that needs to be elevated to governor and council. He said there is training software purchased to help address the challenges identified in the report.

The report found nothing nefarious, contrary to some social media accusations that Stewart may have tipped the ACLU off to the matter to somehow undercut the governor, which she denied.

Attorney General John Formella said agencies are generally doing a good job with 91-A requests.
Crepeau said there was an administrative failure, but Liot Hill said she saw it more of a system failure, noting no wrongdoing was found.

Formella said the effort will also be to focus on legal advice in the department. He said 91-A is a top issue.
"I think this is a legal advice issue," he said.

VAIL AND WASTEWATER
Councilor Stevens thanked the governor for intervening on behalf of New Hampshire residents when she learned that Vail Resorts was attempting to charge a "blended" tax next year for its EPIC pass and noted that the Colorado-based company had responded with a product which would not charge New Hampshire residents a tax for skiing at New Hampshire ski areas.

In all, their solution would save state consumers $12 and preclude them from skiing at other resorts outside of New Hampshire, for which there are many, Liot Hill noted.

Stevens also noted that Vail holds the lease on state-owned Mount Sunapee ski area in Newbury and residents of the area are concerned about a wastewater treatment lagoon which is 50 years old on the site, calling it a "time bomb."

She said the state has spent money to assess the problem and it is unclear whether the corporation is willing to spend $1 million to $10 million to replace the facility, noting its close proximity to Lake Sunapee, a source of surface drinking water.

Crepeau said he expects an annual operating plan from the company in June and a meeting which has not been scheduled in the later part of that month or early July with an advisory committee. He also noted that he expects a feasibility study which could take 200 days.

TABLED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT FOR CHILDCARE

Executive Councilor John Stephen, R-Manchester, said he was concerned with a sole source amendment to a contract to provide professional development for 9,000 childcare workers when what he is hearing from providers is that they need help with workforce development and retention.

Executive Councilor David Wheeler, R-Milford, said he had concerns about the fact that the contract was not bid out and that he did not know what the curriculum was and contends it might be related to "politically correct" diversity, equity and inclusion curriculum.

For that reason, he and other councilors moved to table the contract amendment with the Pyramid Model Consortium of Missoula, Montana.

MOVING PEOPLE OUT OF INSTITUTIONS

There were two contracts approved Wednesday which look to move 25 individuals away from institutional living and back into the community.

One approved with the Partnership for Public Health Inc. in Laconia would allow about 25 people to move from institutions to community based care for $471,380 and another which authorizes NFI North of Contoocook to move 92 eligible individuals transitioning from New Hampshire Hospital or a designated receiving facility to the community. That contract for $10.8 million is effective July 1.

RENEWED CONTRACT TO OPERATE BARRY CAMP IN BERLIN

An agreement was approved with the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension 4-H Camps in Durham through August, 2021 was approved for the operation of Barry Conservation Camp in Berlin.

Executive Director of Fish and Game, Dr. Stephanie L. Simek said no agency funds are used to operate Barry Camp, although the state owns the land. Generally a five-year agreement is approved with clubs and the UNH Extension services running the facility.

Each summer, 175 campers attend the camp and learn skills from fishing, hunting, archery, conservation, map and compass skills and 4-H supports it. A link to more information on the camp is here https://extension.unh.edu/new-hampshire-4-h/barry-conservation-camp

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.